Friday Funny: Payback For The Parking Czar

14 December 2007 - 2:00pm

The head of traffic and parking enforcement in Rome, Italy was fired after parking illegally using a fraudulent handicapped permit.

"Giovanni Catanzaro parked his red Alfa Romeo Brera in a tow away zone near the Spanish Steps in central Rome before heading off to a restaurant on Friday night, Roman daily Il Messaggero reported on Sunday, complete with pictures from the scene.

His car displayed a permit for disabled drivers that was no longer valid and initially issued to a senior citizen, the paper said, noting that officials almost never tow away a disabled person's vehicle no matter where it is parked.

A spokesman for Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said Catanzaro had been removed from his post as head of the city's municipal police force that oversees traffic and parking violations after the newspaper report."

Source: Reuters, November 28, 2007
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These practices are also inequitable since they force non-drivers to subsidize parking costs, reduce travel options for non-drivers, and reduce housing affordability.